General Barkov
|type of villain = Hypocritical Warlord}} General Roman Barkov (in Russian: Роман Барков), or better known as General Barkov, is the main antagonist of the 2019 video game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, the reboot of the Modern Warfare sub-series. He is a rogue Russian military general who leads an army of loyal Russian soldiers and mercenaries to purge and control Urzikstan in order to "protect" his country, believing it to be a "breeding ground" for terrorists. His goals lead him into conflict with the U.S. military, CIA, SAD and the U.L.F. led by his archenemy Commander Farah Karim. He was voiced and motion-captured by Konstantin Lavysh. Biography Early life Nothing is known about Barkov's past, except that some time before or during 1999, he was appointed as Lieutenant General of the Russian Armed Forces. Eventually, in 1999, Barkov lost his sanity and decided to take matters in his own hands by using Russian military and mercenaries under his command to invade Urzikstan, believing it to be a breeding ground for terrorists. To enact this, he launch multiple bombings and chemical attacks on the country to establish control, hoping that he could eradicate terrorism there in order to protect Russia. He then ordered his forces to kill multiple civilians and rescuers, and then captured, imprisoned and enslaved any survivors. as he captures a young Hadir and Farah Karim during his invasion.]] During one of these attacks, the mother Farah, Fatima, died as a result of artillery bombing. However, Farah's father Walid rescued her just as Barkov sent his men and launched the gas attacks. Although they escaped to their home to Farah's brother Hadir, a Russian trooper codenamed J-12 came in and killed Walid, just before Farah killed him. As Farah and Hadir attempted to flee Urzikstan, they were captured by Barkov and his men. Conflict with Karim At some point, after Barkov established his forced control over Urzikstan, he forced every citizen to subject to his rule, forcing the men in particular to work in labor. He then became aware of a rebel known as "Commander Karim", who was sending messages to the outside world about what Barkov was doing. Upon realizing that it was in fact Farah, who was still locked up along with Hadir, he had her placed in solitary confinement and tried to break Hadir by ensuring that Farah had no access to food or water for 10 days. Eventually, in 2009, Barkov visited and interrogated Farah, waterboarding her until she revealed who "Karim" was, but to no avail. When he uses one of his own prisoners as leverage, Barkov would either execute her if she lies or stays silent, or boast that the resistance's "fearless leader has broken" and send the prisoner back to her cell if Farah admits she is "Karim". Afterwards, Barkov has Farah taken back to her cell and admits that he knew all along that she is "Commander Karim", before attempting to strangle her death after she refused to reveal whomever stole one of his keys. He is forced to stopped when his forces came under attack from Farah's rebels, and he decides to escape to safety cowardly. This resulted in Farah and Hadir escaping thanks to help from S.A.S. operative John Price, and thus sparked their war against the General, leading the Urzikstan Liberation Force (U.L.F.) against his army in a bid to rid the country of his cruelty forever. Downfall For the next ten years, Barkov ended up on the watchlist of several Western intelligence agencies who couldn't make any direct action against due to still being a high-ranking General in the Russian Army, fearing that doing so will start a war with the country. This ultimately made him nearly untouchable. In 2019, he attempted to have more of his gas shipped to Urzikstan from one of his factories in Verdansk, Kastovia, in order to suppress any resistance in the country. However, his forces were intercepted by a C.I.A. team led by "Alex" and 1st Marine Raiders, who were sent to obtain the deadly gas before it would be shipped. This was one of many covert operations that were greenlit in order to undermine his control over the region. However, their operation failed due to the sudden appearance of Al-Qatala, who had killed all the marines except "Alex" and escaped with the gas. After the events in Kastovia, Barkov began having many people executed in public to set an example for anyone else who wouldn't do as he says, blaming them for what happened. During this time, Barkov would often display TV translations all across the city of Aqtabi, Urzikstan, monologuing his goals. Propaganda posters were also displayed all over city, which were seen by "Alex", who was sent to the country to help Farah defeat the Russian troops in exchange for assistance in finding the stolen gas. At the end of the day, Barkov lost his airbase to Farah and her forces with the aid of a helicopter. This caused Barkov to limit Russian air response in the area. A few days later, "Alex", Hadir and Farah head to the Highway of Death to intercept the Wolf and deal with hostiles, including a suicide truck. When dealing with Al-Qatala, Barkov sent his men to destroy both forces. Although "Alex" managed to destroy the Russian transports, they then had to deal with the soldiers, forcing Hadir to unleash his secret weapon: Barkov's own gas, revealing that he was the one who stole them. As the Russian soldiers died, Hadir brought the two to a bunker before leaving, wanting to Barkov for his crimes. Final Battle and Death Several days later, Barkov's estate was invaded by Al-Qatala forces led by Hadir, who then took Barkov's relatives hostage, as revenge for what Barkov did and to also find the chemical factory where the chlorine gas was being made. Wanting no loose ends, Barkov sent a helicopter to attack and kill them. However, they failed as Hadir was saved by Captain Price and Sergeant Kyle Garrick before being captured and handed over to the Russia to answer for his crimes. With intel on its location, Captain Price, "Alex", Garrick and Farah lead an assault on the chemical factory in Borjimi, Georgia. With Barkov on site, he order his men to stop them. Being the coward that he is, he attempted escape via a helicopter, unaware that Nikolai and Farah had hijacked it. General Barkov attempt to call for help from Moscow in order to get Russia's support in dealing with the so-called terrorists, but is told that they were ignoring him, presumably because they found out from Hadir about what he did in Urzikstan. As Barkov refused to accept this, Farah attacked the General from behind, who retaliated by choking her. However, Farah stabbed him repeatedly and forced Barkov onto his back. As the General tried to bargain for his own life in an attempt to get his gun, Farah continued to stab him. Barkov would either die from his wounds or when Farah kicks him out of the plane, falling to his death, ultimately ending his cruelty towards Urzikstan permanently. His chemical factory is later destroyed after "Alex" sacrificed himself to detonate the charges. Legacy Following Barkov's defeat and death, he is remembered as a war criminal and disowned by Russia for his heinous actions and crimes against humanity in Urzikstan. In the end, Kate Laswell explains to Price that Victor Zakhaev, son of Imran, wants Barkov's throne, presumably in the Russian army. Afterwards, Al-Qatala invades Kastovian city Verdansk in response to Barkov's actions, with a new leader at its helm. Personality Outright delusional, psychopathic, sadistic and utterly ruthless, General Barkov is an over-patriotic fanatic who will do anything to achieve his goals. He will kill whomever he sees on the wrong end or getting in his way without hesitation or remorse. Viewing Urzikstan as "the breeding ground for terrorists", Barkov is extremely xenophobic and abusive towards its population, which is demonstrated not only by his tyrannical occupation through public executions and forced laboring, but is also demonstrated by his merciless repressions and genocidal actions towards them, and he doesn't spare even children. Other than killing innocent Urzikstanis, Barkov is also not above killing his own soldiers, for even the slightest of reasons, as evident by some dialogues in the game. However, Barkov is not lacking any other emotions, such as showing fear in the end when being stabbed by Farah Karim, even trying to bargain for his life, and would flee battles in order to save his own life all the time. All in all, Barkov is a hypocrite who cannot see the fault in his own actions, and is more than willing to use any excuse to murder and torture innocent people via his war crimes. Speech Gallery GenBarkov.png|General Roman Barkov. Barkov1.png Barkov2.png Barkov-water.png|Barkov with his water canteen, before asking Farah if she wants a drink. Barkov-interrogating.jpg Barkov-the-key.jpg|Barkov reveals that he knew that Farah was "Karim" all along. Barkov-choking-Farah-Into-the-Furnance-Choking.jpg|Barkov choking Farah after she attacks him on the helicopter. Trivia *General Barkov is the fourth Call of Duty main villain to be Russian, following Imran Zakhaev from the original Modern Warfare, Nikita Dragovich from Black Ops and Vladimir Makarov from Modern Warfare 3. *Barkov is inspired by Col. Walter E. Kurtz from the epic war film from 1979 by Francis Coppola, Apocalypse Now, though their actions and personalities are much different. Despite being insane, Kurtz is usually calm and philosophic, believing in morals, but also believing that a person should be cold in order to commit actions necessary to win the war, even if they are extremely brutal, while Barkov is a paranoid, hot-tempered fanatic who commits numerous acts of unnecessary horrid brutality that is also fueled by his xenophobia towards the people of Urzikstan. *He is similar to General Shepherd from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2: **Both are leaders of rogue groups. **Both abused their power and positions. **Both their signature weapons are revolvers. **Both are killed by the protagonist with a knife. **Both are also the secondary antagonists of their games, though Barkov is mentioned and is already the antagonist as Shepherd became the antagonist for the last half of the game. *He is also similar to Gabriel Rorke from Call of Duty: Ghosts: **Both use revolvers. **Both enjoy torturing their victims, and the protagonists. External links *Roman Barkov - Call of Duty Wiki Navigation pl:Generał Barkow Category:Call of Duty Villains Category:Video Game Villains Category:Non-Action Category:Military Category:Anarchist Category:Male Category:Murderer Category:Psychopath Category:Charismatic Category:Genocidal Category:Deceased Category:Criminals Category:Chaotic Evil Category:Failure-Intolerant Category:Warlords Category:Destroyers Category:Arrogant Category:Jingoists Category:Corrupt Officials Category:Control Freaks Category:Mongers Category:Destroyer of Innocence Category:Homicidal Category:Faux Affably Evil Category:Archenemy Category:Delusional Category:Rogues Category:Hypocrites Category:Torturer Category:Oppressors Category:Provoker Category:Betrayed Category:Leader Category:Mastermind Category:Game Bosses Category:Kidnapper Category:Gaolers Category:Successful Category:Paranoid Category:Supremacists Category:Cowards Category:Abusers Category:Psychological Abusers Category:Sadists Category:Starvers Category:Evil Vs. Evil Category:Wrathful Category:Vengeful Category:Tyrants Category:Polluters Category:Weapons Dealer Category:Trickster Category:Terrorists Category:Misogynists Category:Slaver Category:Propagandists Category:Barbarian Category:Strategic Category:Weaklings Category:Egotist Category:Bond Destroyers Category:Elderly Category:Posthumous